In his business, people call him A-Ra’is or the captain, a title given to every tunnel owner in Rafah.
“You can call me Abu Ziad,” he says, while using the bottom of his dusty T-shirt to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
After a short walk through an alley of a crowded neighborhood, we creep under the rubble of a demolished house leading to a large courtyard. Several lit candles on the walls spread a warm orange glow over a square meter hole that they call “The Eye” of the Tunnel.
This tunnel is owned by 34-year-old Abu Ziad, a father of seven. He was working in construction in Israel, but after violence between Israelis and Palestinians erupted in 2000, Abu Ziad as well as hundreds of other workers ended up without a source of income.
It was during this period that a large-scale smuggling industry developed in the city as an alternative source of income.
“I decided to dig a tunnel,” says Abu Ziad.
The construction of the tunnel
Planning the route of a tunnel is the toughest phase – first, searching for a suitable ending for the tunnel on the Egyptian side, and second, allocating the opening of the tunnel, which should be located in a house or within other private property.
But the remaining challenge is finding trustworthy diggers to maintain the golden rule of silence.
The method of tunnel construction is complex and has evolved over the years. Currently, the construction of tunnels is overseen by residents of Rafah, who have been digging tunnels for more than 50 years and are now experts in the business.
“Despite that, tunnelling remains a dangerous business. This is especially true as there is always the risk that the passageway will collapse. This happens due to the nature of the soil there, which is soft sand and absorbs water easily,” Abu Ziad explains without blinking.
Abu Ziad, his seven friends and nine other partners on the Egyptian side of the border, have worked for five months to dig a 900-meter tunnel between Rafah and Egypt.
At the beginning the excavations have to start vertically and up to 12 meters deep through the different layers of sand. First comes the soft sand, then the black sand, and the "snail sand," named after the fossils to be found inside. Afterwards come the yellow mud and the thick, red soil. Eventually, a layer of very soft sand is reached through which the tunnel can proceed horizontally, but not in a straight line, in order to avoid a sudden collapse.
The digging conditions underground are very harsh. Almost no air enters the passageway and the temperature is very high. Diggers often get claustrophobic and have to rest for a few days before being able to continue.
Throughout the hollowing process, Abu Ziad explains, a small hole is bored up to the surface every 30 meters to allow in air and to provide a sign to the diggers on the Egyptian side showing them the direction of the excavations.
Tunneling is a primary source of income
In Rafah tunneling is an extremely lucrative business, especially where thousands of residents are unemployed and living in extreme poverty. This industry comprises a primary source of income in the area.
Tunnels are used to smuggle all types of "goods" – weapons, ammunition, drugs, cigarettes, as well as Egyptian wives who are not allowed to join their Palestinian husbands on the other side of the border.
During the period of Hamas-Fatah infighting, weapons became the most profitable goods in the Gaza Strip.
“This tunnel is used mainly for weapons and cigarettes. Of course, we could also bring in flour and food as there is a critical shortage now in Gaza, but it would not bring so much money,” Abu Ziad says unashamedly.
“I have smuggled everything – weapons, ammunition, explosives, drugs, goods, and even human beings,” he says proudly.
The owner also rents his tunnel to other smugglers who could be militants, drug dealers or individuals, in return for a few thousand dollars for a night.
The Ra’is charges 25 percent of the total price of the shipment on the Egyptian market, as well as a fee for each item that passes through his tunnel. This fee is divided equally between the captain and his partners.
A good night’s delivery consists of 1,200 Kalashnikovs, each of them bought for $500 on the Egyptian market and sold at $2,500 a piece in Gaza, especially during the confrontations between Fatah and Hamas.
"The fee that we are sharing that is imposed on each rifle is $400," Abu Ziad adds.
These people are more interested in profit than in ideology. Therefore, weapons are not smuggled for political purposes but for the enormous amount of cash they generate.
“During the infighting between Fatah and Hamas, I smuggled through my tunnel a number of shipments, each consisting of 850 rifles, 500 pistols and 3,000 bullets. We made a lot of money out of those deals,” Abu Ziad says.
For Abu Ziad, if the Israelis or the Egyptians discover his tunnel, they will either seal or bombard it.
“I will immediately either fix it or build another one,” he concludes defiantly.
The business flourished after Hamas controlled Gaza
Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, the tunnel business has flourished and the number of tunnels has increased.
Analysts believe that Hamas managed the tunnels in order to build up a strong arsenal in Gaza and to supply the offensive that routed its Fatah rival in Gaza more than a month ago.
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv reported last week that top Al-Qa’ida official, Khalid Muhammad Mu’stafa, fled from Egypt and entered Gaza through a tunnel owned by the Al-Qa’ida squad of the Islamic Army in Gaza.
The source added that Mu’stafa has been accused of targeting tourist resorts in Egypt. Ma’ariv quoted Palestinian security sources as saying that Mu’stafa had succeeded in infiltrating the Gaza Strip, along with one of his top aides.
Apparently, neither Egypt nor Israel is able to control the Rafah area and eliminate the tunnels there. The ongoing operation led by Israel and Egypt remains a cat and mouse game. When an entryway is found and sealed, the tunnel owners simply dig a new hole to connect them to the midsections, which remain intact.